Friday Commentary: Food For Thought
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A coupla three or more thoughts entering the weekend …
#1 – Week 12 in the CFL opened Thursday night, but not necessarily with a bang. Winnipeg whooped Montreal 26-13 in Quebec, to absolutely no one’s surprise. The Alouettes are down to their fourth string quarterback and fading fast!
Meanwhile the Bombers are really getting hot and their star tailback Brady Oliveira had over 200 combined yards. He’s reminding me of what the oldtimers used to say about Roughriders great George Reed: “Everybody in the stadium knew he was getting the ball, but nobody could stop him.”
#2 – To be honest my remote control was getting a workout Thursday night. The NFL preseason game featuring the Patriots and Giants at MetLife Stadium was oddly fascinating. The G-Men are forecast to have only two wins this season but last night they pulverized New England 42-10. Back-up quarterback Tommy “Cutlets” Devito was on fire and that running back #23 looks to make everybody forget about Saquon Barkley.
But then I remembered … it’s only preseason!
#3 – While chatting with a friend from Saskatoon this week, she asked why baseball’s Saskatoon Berries have been such a phenomen in only Year 2 while basketball’s Saskatchewan Rattlers – also in Saskatoon – have not, already in Year 7?
I said it’s a tough call, and I think the Rattlers actually outdraw the baseball team attendance-wise, but the Berries pack a tiny stadium.
Food for thought!
And #4 – Western Hockey League training camps will begin next week and NHL teams have started the countdown to the regular season in October.
I’m ready for it.
That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary
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George Reed, R,I.P big fella.
“why baseball’s Saskatoon Berries have been such a phenomen in only Year 2 while basketball’s Saskatchewan Rattlers – also in Saskatoon – have not, already in Year 7?” The Ratters and Berries average around the same size crowds. The Berries play more than twice as many home games as the Rattlers, so way more people in Saskatoon have been to a Berries game than the Rattlers. The Berries owners run Sasktel Centre. When Snoop Dogg and Morgan Wallen came to town, they played their shows in Berries merch. That was a huge marketing move. The SEG group which owns the… Read more »
And yet none of the above can compete with the U of S Huskies football for atmosphere.
Blades game on the same night as a Huskies football game, no comparison. Saskatoon goes to Griffiths Stadium.
I watched George Reed a bit, but was pretty young. I wonder how much he was used as a receiver out of the backfield…and if he was, what kind of pass-catcher was he? I don’t hear much chatter about that.
Never. He would avg 8 yards a carry only for Ron Lancaster to throw an ill timed interception. They were very easy to defensive plan against. By the way that average loss to Edmonton in the finals. That came courtesy of Don Mathews as the D.C. Hugh Campbell as Head Coach was the yearly equivalent of Jon Gruden getting to scheme against the Raiders/Rich Gannon and his former Assistant who succeeded him. They never changed anything up and Hugh could plan accordingly. Football has a funny way of creating a lot of myth and mystic. At the end of the… Read more »
Ahh nostalgia. Youtube plays all the 1970s cfl games. Lol – st george reed? Take a gander at the opposition defensive lines, linebacking corps, and secondary…..they resemble prairie fields covered in “snow” in February. Then go take a gander at the 1970s team pictures…lol. Good player for his era. CFL Running Backs are in this order 1) Mike Pringle 2) Charles Roberts There are a lot of really good ones. Robert Mimbs; Jeffrey Reynolds, Pinball Clemons. These guys playing today. If you are watching America’s Team. These guys are great players but literally nobody in professional has to ever fear… Read more »